FONDATION IRIS
TO HELP SAFEGUARD
THE FRAGILE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD
ABOUT US
Fondation Iris is a private foundation under the aegis of Fondation de France. It was created in December 2012. Its aim is to promote conservation of the environment and "Help to safeguard the fragile beauty of the world."
The foundation supports actions to preserve or restore vulnerable sites, whether cultural or natural, as well as actions to respond concretely to the loss of biodiversity in all kinds of environments. It promotes events and works by artists and photographers, who contribute to the enhancement of the sites or the public awareness on these themes. The foundation also supports agroecology in France.Finally the foundation organizes or supports scientific expeditions around the world.
SUPPORTED PROJECTS
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
NEWS
Arrivée de Christophe Gruault au bassin de l'Arsenal après un périple de 2400 kilomètres de Varsovie à Paris à la rame.
le 18 juin 2023
Photo Staffan Widstrand
Photo Staffan Widstrand
Christophe Gruault, cet homme aux rêves audacieux, s'est lancé dans une aventure qui ferait frémir même les poissons les plus téméraires : relier Varsovie à Paris à la rame, non seulement comme un challenge sportif, mais aussi comme une mission scientifique et éducative. Son périple solitaire est devenu bien plus qu'un simple défi personnel. Accompagné d’un programme scientifique et pédagogique, il s'est engagé à sensibiliser les enfants sur son trajet à la préservation de l'environnement aquatique. À chaque coup de pagaie, il a étudié la biodiversité des écosystèmes aquatiques, a mesuré les pollutions plastiques dans les rivières et a recherché la présence de perturbateurs endocriniens. Il a découvert les cultures culinaires associées aux ressources comestibles des cours d'eau et des écosystèmes aquatiques, explorant ainsi les liens profonds entre l'homme et la nature. Christophe Gruault, tel un chercheur intrépide, a navigué sous le regard perplexe de la faune, mais aussi dans les méandres de la connaissance, ouvrant de nouvelles perspectives sur la protection des écosystèmes aquatiques et la préservation de notre planète. En espérant que son exploit inspirera les générations futures à explorer, comprendre et préserver notre précieuse nature.
Expédition en partenariat avec la Fondation Iris
Association Francis Hallé pour la forêt primaire
le 15 mai 2023
The Iris Foundation continues to support the Francis Hallé Association in its project to create a European primary forest. After winning over scientific circles, the bold idea is gaining ground in the minds of local elected officials (Grande Est region) as well as French and European leaders. The association takes off again, with 4000 members.
Remise de la bourse Sef-Iris 2023
le 20 avril 2023
Françoise Brenckmann, Présidente de la Fondation Iris
Françoise Brenckmann, Présidente de la Fondation Iris
On Tuesday 20 April 2023, the Société des Explorateurs Français - Fondation Iris scholarship award ceremony was held in the amphitheatre of the prestigious Société de Géographie, in the presence of Isabelle Autissier, Françoise Brenckmann, Olivier Archambeau, Jean-Marc Besse.
Congratulations to the nominees Jean-Michel Corillion, Gilles Santantonio, Eric Gilli, luc federmeyer and to the winner, Damien Lecouvey and his teammates Matthieu Berroneau, Thibaut Rivière, William Wadoux, Marine Menier, Freddy Gualinga!
Translated with DeepL
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Remise de la bourse Sef-Iris 2023
The Society of French Explorers and the Iris Foundation
are pleased to announce the name of the 2023 winner of the SEF-IRIS
"Exploration and Biodiversity".
Created in 2022, the SEF-IRIS grant aims to support non-institutional "science and image" expeditions, which are the work of people committed to an exploration approach that is both scientific and sensitive, in the service of knowledge sharing and environmental preservation.
It is in this spirit that the jury, composed of Isabelle Autissier (writer and navigator), Olivier Archambeau (president of the Société des Explorateurs Français), Françoise Brenckmann (president of the Iris Foundation), Bruno David (president of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) and Gerard Feldzer (president of Aviation Sans Frontières), decided to award this year's grant to the project of :
Damien Lecouvey
"The scales of the forest".
A member of the Société des Explorateurs Français, Damien Lecouvey is a herpetologist and specialist in venom sampling in isolated environments. With his team, and alongside members of the Kichwa community, he wishes to lead a 40-day expedition to Yasuni National Park, in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, in order to inventory potential new animal and plant species, and to take stock of the known species.
Yasuni National Park (10,220 km2) is one of the richest biotopes on the planet, with nearly 1,335 animal species and 2,700 plant species already recorded. It is home to the Kichwa and Huaorani communities as well as to the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples in voluntary isolation. For several decades, these root peoples have seen their territory and culture threatened by oil extraction activities and have been fighting to raise awareness of the richness of the forest and the importance of protecting it.
The winner will receive his or her prize during an evening round-table discussion, in the presence of the 2022 winner, Régis Belleville, philosopher Jean-Marc Besse and the members of the jury.
RENDEZVOUS
Thursday 20 April at 8.30pm
at the Amphitheatre of the Société de Géographie
184 boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris
👉 Free invitations to be withdrawn on
my.weezevent.com/Bourse-sef-iris-2023
Translated with DeepL
The Société des Explorateurs Français and the Iris Foundation invite you to the presentation of the 2023 Grant for the realization of a "Science and Biodiversity" Expedition.
Scientific curiosity, thirst for going beyond the known, thirst for wonder, freedom and audacity, but also respect for sites and peoples,… these are the values that the Fondation IRIS wanted to promote through the ten expeditions supported since 9 years.
Expeditions have historically been the vector of discoveries, they continue to bring a lot of knowledge and recently they have raised ecological awareness. They nourish scientists as well as the general public.
Aware of the excellence of French exploration, past and present, aware of the financial needs of the expeditions, the Fondation IRIS, together with the Société des explorateurs Français, launches the SEF IRIS Scholarship.
This scholarship is intended for members of the Society of French Explorers, for an expedition oriented towards the themes of biodiversity and the preservation of sites by providing knowledge , by promoting the dissemination of knowledge and raising public awareness of these subjects.
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Si vous désirez participer à cet événement, vous devez prendre un billet (Obligatoire et gratuit)
The Iris Foundation supports:
Le Festival International du Film et du Livre d’Aventure de La Rochelle.
From 14 to 22 November 2022
La fondation Iris soutient
Le site Pédagogique de la fabrique des pandémies .
Le site pédagogique de la fabrique des pandémies est à présent ouvert à tous et toutes.
Nous sommes très heureux et heureuses que ces ressources puissent être enfin libres d'accès.
De nombreux enseignant.es ont sollicité ces derniers temps d'avoir accès au contenu.
Terres d'ailleurs aims to contribute to a general awareness of the issues related to biodiversity and cultural diversity, and to question the relationship we have with nature and people. During the festival, these issues are addressed in particular through books (stories and travel diaries, documentaries, beautiful books) and images (graphic arts, photography, cinema).
Terres d'ailleurs is a festival at the crossroads of several worlds: science, exploration, travel literature, art... This event allows you to meet exceptional travellers, real eyewitnesses to the current upheavals. Its particularity is to decline the natural sciences (biology, ecology, geology, ethology…) with the human sciences (ethnology, sociology, geography, history…). The festival thus aims to inform about the missions of modern scientific explorations, to raise awareness of the great upheavals of the 21st century and to encourage reflection on its own practices.
Le Fonds de dotation vise à témoigner de l’évolution et de la fragilité des Pôles en utilisant le navire « le Français » comme outil pédagogique et scientifique.
Le navire se déplace de port en port et héberge à son bord l’École Polaire ouverte gratuitement aux écoles primaires, aux collèges et aux lycées pour leur proposer des cours interactifs, des expériences scientifiques et des projections photos et vidéos sur les zones polaires et le réchauffement climatique.
Prochaine destination : la Rochelle du 12 septembre au 14 octobre !
Pour en savoir plus sur l'École Polaire.
La fondation Iris soutient
"Canopée".
Fondée en 2018, Canopée est une organisation qui se présente comme un contre-pouvoir citoyen pour mieux protéger les forêts en France et dans le monde.
Enquêtant et informant sur les menaces pesant sur les forêts, l'association travaille en réseau avec de nombreuses autres organisations, de collectifs citoyens et d'experts afin d'agir à la racine des problèmes institutionnels et privés, et d'apporter des solutions.
Vous souhaitez agir contre la déforestation ?
Le 13 septembre 2022, le Parlement européen va se prononcer sur une loi qui interdit l’importation de produits responsables de déforestation.
Pour en savoir plus sur la loi européenne contre la déforestation et comment interpellez les députés européens, rendez-vous sur le site de Canopée .
Séminaire sur les forêts
Le 21 septembre 2022, de 8h à 13h, Canopée organise un séminaire sur les forêts à destination des parlementaires à la Maison de la Chimie (Paris). Pour plus d'informations sur cet événement, cliquez sur ce lien: Séminaire sur les forêts
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The Iris foundation supports
the "Festival Photo Montier 2022".
The Montier Photo Festival, International Wildlife and Nature Photo Festival of Montier-en-Der (Haute-Marne, Grand Est Region), is the only meeting place in Europe for nature photography!
In November, as every year, Montier-en-Der becomes THE CAPITAL of wildlife photography, nature and environmental protection!
The Festival welcomes the best nature, scientific and naturalist photographers.
It is also a meeting place between photographers, naturalists, associations and professionals.
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See you from 𝟭𝟰 𝗮𝘂 𝟮𝟬 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 for the 19th edition of the La Rochelle International Film and Adventure Book Festival!
𝗟𝗘 𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗬 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮!
We are happy to introduce you to the members of the jury who will participate in this new edition of #FIFAV, thank you to them for accepting our invitation!
The director 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗔𝗺𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘁 will chair the official jury!
Trained as a biologist then graduating with a Masters in wildlife cinema (IFFCAM), Franco-Swiss director Marie Amiguet works with Jean-Michel Bertrand in La Vallée des loups and Marche avec les loups. In 2017, she met Vincent Munier. They co-directed The Snow Panther (César for best documentary in 2022), whose journey inspired the eponymous book by Sylvain Tesson.
Virginie Troussieris a writer and journalist for Montagnes Magazine and Alpes Magazine. She has published novels and essays on alpine skiing. His story In the middle of summer, an invincible winter (Guérin Chamonix / Paulsen) was the occasion of his visit during the 18th edition of FIFAV.
Sylvie Sanabriais a journalist, editorial director of Outside.fr magazine. His daily task? To offer adventure enthusiasts a breath of fresh air and encourage them to exercise their muscles and their neurons.
Damien Casterais a professional surfer and director. He finally hung up the lycra to devote himself to adventure travel. Writing and directing documentary films became his means of witnessing this passionate encounter with the world.
OUR REMARKABLE IDENTITIES
Theme 2022
To be born somewhere is neither a prowess, nor a talent, nor a privilege, but quite simply pure chance. Always remember that. It is only then, by deploying our lives somehow, that the desire - or the urgency - comes to us to imagine, to build, to find or rediscover an identity.
These identities have no legitimacy to divide, oppose, exclude. But on the contrary to attest to the diversity and vitality of humanity. These are our remarkable identities.
The Grand Bivouac 2022 continues its world tour with you to bear witness to this. Thank you for your trust ! And a very good festival to all.
Guy Chaumereuil
President of the Festival
The Iris Foundation supports
Science and Environment Exploration Film Festival
Created 7 years ago, the festival Lumexplore is a recognized meeting place in the world of exploration. Lumexplore brings together all the fields to which exploration and adventure bring more knowledge and a better understanding of our world through oceanography, geography, the environment, archeology, speleology, the history of our planet and its future, and other disciplines.
The research is presented to the public through films, photo exhibitions, conferences allowing exchanges between the explorers and the public. But the great originality of Lumexplore and its main mission, is to open its doors to the younger generation by including them in the festival as filmmakers, so that they are involved in the future that awaits them and imagine solutions for our fragile planet.
Award of the IRIS / Society of French Explorers Scholarship.
Hommage à Jean-Marie Hullot
Remise du prix à Régis Belleville - Kalahari, les pistes inexplorées .
Scientific curiosity, thirst for going beyond the known, thirst for wonder, freedom and audacity, but also respect for sites and peoples,… these are the values that the IRIS Foundation wanted promote through the ten expeditions supported since 9 years.
Expeditions have historically been the vector of discoveries, they continue to bring a lot of knowledge and recently they have raised ecological awareness. They nourish scientists as well as the general public.
Aware of the excellence of French exploration, past and present, aware of the financial needs of expeditions, the IRIS Foundation , together with the Society of French Explorers , is launching the SEF IRIS Scholarship.
This scholarship is intended for members of the Society of French Explorers, for an expedition oriented towards the themes of biodiversity and the preservation of sites, by providing knowledge, by promoting the dissemination of knowledge and awareness of these themes.
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The Iris Foundation supports Marie-Monique Robin's film
"The Factory of Pandemics"
Preserving biodiversity is protecting our health
During the period of shock and confinement, the IRIS foundation dared dream that a work be done on the link between zoonoses and the expansion of human populations and activities in natural areas, reservoirs of potential diseases.
“The Factory of Pandemics” provides the most brilliant explanation.
Furthermore it allows us to better understand the role of biodiversity as protection against some of the emerging diseases.
This is why the IRIS foundation is happy to support M2R films.
here is broadcast dates
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Ushuaia TV, May 22
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France TV Overseas May 23
The movie preview list
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April 22: PARIS - UNESCO - 7 p.m.
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April 23: BASEL - 5 p.m.
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April 26: LUXEMBOURG
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April 27: PARIS
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April 28: MOUANS-SARTOUX
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April 29 or May 3 (date to be confirmed) - MARSEILLE
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May 04: GEVÈVE
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May 05: CORK
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May 06: STRASBOURG - UGC RIVE ETOILE - 8 p.m.
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May 09: PARIS - COLLEGE DES BERNARDINS - 2.30 p.m.
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May 10: DECINES-CHARPIEU (Lyon suburbs) - Toboggan
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May 11: BRUSSELS - Cinema Galleries - 8 p.m.
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May 12: MONTPELLIER - Diagonal
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May 13: CÉRET - 8 p.m.
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May 14: TOULOUSE
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May 16: PARIS
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May 17: PARIS
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May 18: PARIS
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May 19 - DOUAI
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May 20: BORDEAUX - UTOPIA
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May 21: NIORT - Moulin du Roc - 8 p.m.
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La Fondation IRIS supports The Rapid Response Facility (RRF)
For BATTLING BLAZES IN THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO
The Brazilian Cerrado is the largest savannah region in South America, an the most biodiverse savannah in the world. It encompass 2 World Heritage sites. The Cerrado biome supports many rare and endemic animals and plants, including the giant anteater, giant armadillo, maned wolf, jaguar, pampas deer, and also the rhea – South America’s largest bird.
However, the Cerrado faces severe challenges; it has one of the highest deforestation rates in Brazil, and is threatened by cyclical fires which could result in species extinctions. Fires are traditionally used to enhance agricultural productivity, but can quickly get out of control if not properly managed.
La Fondation IRIS supports The Rapid Response Facility (RRF) which helps the coordination of the fire-fighting efforts of the different agencies and groups involved. Funds strengthen teams on-the-ground by providing essential equipment (vehicle, water pumps, fire-blowers and safety equipment, food, fuel, communications equipment such as drones, and the development of a mobile phone application).
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The Iris Foundation supports "Life on Land" Ivory Coast agroecology training program and cultural center
At the end of November 2021, the first training program in agroecological market gardening was held in accordance with the recommendations of the agrarian diagnosis previously carried out by Terre et Humanisme and Béo Neeré.
The program :
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definition of agroecology,
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making compost, bokashi,
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setting up a culture bed,
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learning about crop associations and rotations, focus on peasant seeds,
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natural pest and disease control, etc.
The first training course in agroecological market gardening with the Life on Land team and 4 groups of farmers, mostly women, was a success. The next training courses in breeding, field crops and processing are scheduled fo 2022.
"Association Francis Hallé pour la forêt primaire"
Restauring a primary forest in Western Europe
Aerial view of the Northern Vosges © Arnaud Hiltzer
"We want to restaure a primary forest in Western Europe."
- Francis Hallé
The Iris Foundation supports Francis Hallé in this ambitious project.
At the initiative of the botanist Francis Hallé, our association works towards the creation of a vast natural zone on a European scale - approximately 70,000 hectares (172,974 acres) - in which an undisturbed forest will evolve autonomously, renewing and developing its fauna and flora without any human intervention over a period of several centuries. This land, yet to be located, will be cross-border with a portion of France.
A primary forest is a forest which has not been cleared, exploited or modified in any way by man. It is a jewel of nature, a true culmination of biodiversity and aesthetics.
Capturing CO2, regulating the climate, preserving biodiversity, replenishing water resources… its benefits are invaluable.
A primary forest is far more beautiful and far richer in life forms than a secondary forest, which is gardened, degraded and limited. In Western Europe, primary forests have been gradually replaced by these “managed” forests.
It takes an estimated 1,000 years for a primary forest to reach a fully developed stage or about 800 years when starting from a secondary forest.
Here is what has been accomplished with the help of the Iris Foundation
Development of the association
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Hiring of an employee since April
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Missions entrusted to professionals: communication, website in particular
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Investing in more professional management tools
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Organizing our first “face-to-face” AGM
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Acquisition of premises
Communication and events
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Website enrichment
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Campaigns on social networks to improve our visibility and promote our project
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Participation in several events: Festiwild, Gondwana, Ménigoute, Le Der
Project recognition
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Presenting the project at the IUCN World Conservation Congress
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Liaise with several public institutions: European Commission, Unesco, Presidency of the French Republic, ministries, ONF, local communities ... etc.
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Participation in the "Assises de la forêt"
Scientific work
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Carrying out the first study trip to locate a potential site
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Producing scientific notes to improve our knowledge on potential territories
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Hiring a post-doctoral fellow to help us work on project acceptability issues and implementation conditions.
La rotonde du Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille présentant le projet de l’association © Pierre Chatagnon
The IRIS Foundation supports the film:
"Green Forests and the Red Carpet" directed by Luc Marescot.
The IRIS Foundation supports the film " Green Forests and the Red Carpet " , directed by Luc Marescot.
To help the famous botanist Francis Hallé in his fight to save the tropical forests, a documentary film maker passionate with nature decides to make his way into the movie industry.
He wants to make a Hollywood blockbuster, an ecological thriller, which would reach a larger audience, and inspire people to take action for nature. He envisions Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead role
By going out of his comfort zone, the filmmaker begins a new and difficult adventure, for the sake of the forests. Between two shooting sessions we find him in Amazonia, Gabon, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica ... we see him make his way with obstinate malice to Hollywood, Berlin, Cannes, Paris, up to Claude Lelouch's editing room, Juliette Binoche's office, among others.
" Green Forests and The Red Carpet " tells his journey, his unwavering determination his obsession, and delivers a universal message: never give up and hang on to your dreams. This adventure is itself a suspens thriller ... with at stake: will his film - to help save the tropical forests - ever exist?
This film is Dedicated to Jean-Marie HULLOT.
CONTACT
FONDATION IRIS
40, avenue Hoche
75008 - Paris, France